The Bobbsey Twins on a Houseboat Part 31

With a piece of board he soon scattered the dirt until he came to Freddie's head. Fortunately the little fellow was covered with only a few inches of the soil, and as a piece of brush had fallen over his face, he had had no trouble in breathing. He was rather badly frightened, however, when he was dug out, little the worse, otherwise, for his adventure.

"What did you do it for?" asked his father, when he and his mother had brushed the dirt from the little chap, while the other children gathered around to look on.

"I--I was making a cave, same as Robinson Crusoe did," Freddie explained. "I dug it with a board in the sand, and I went in--I mean, I went in the cave, and it--it came down--all of a sudden."

"Well, don't do it again," cautioned his mother. "You might have been badly hurt."

They finished their visit on the island, and went back on board the Bluebird again. Snap, who always went with them on these little excursions, bounded on deck, and then made a rush for the kitchen, for he was hungry, and he knew Dinah generally had a bone, or something nice for him.

Mr. Bobbsey, who was following close behind Snap, was surprised to see the dog come to a sudden stop in the pa.s.sageway between the kitchen and dining-room. Snap growled, and showed his teeth, as he did when some savage dog, or other enemy, was near at hand.

"What's the matter, old fellow?" asked Mr. Bobbsey. "Do you see something?"

Snap turned and looked at Mr. Bobbsey. Then the dog looked at one of the locker doors, and, with a loud bark, sprang toward it, as though he would go through the panels.

CHAPTER XX

AT THE WATERFALL

"What's the matter?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey, who had followed her husband into the pa.s.sageway. "Snap and Snoop aren't quarreling, are they?"

"Indeed, no," answered Mr. Bobbsey. "But Snap is acting very strangely. I don't know what to make of him."

By this time Mrs. Bobbsey had come up, where she could see the dog.

Snap was still standing in front of the door, growling, whining, and, now and then, uttering a low bark.

"What's the matter with him?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey. "Is he hungry?"

"Well, I guess he's always more or less hungry," her husband said, "but that isn't the matter with him now. I think perhaps he imagines he sees Dinah's ghost!" and he laughed.

"Snap, come here!" called Mrs. Bobbsey, and, though the dog usually minded her, this time he did not obey. He only stood near the door, growling.

"Why don't you open it, and let him see what's in there," said Bert.

"Maybe it's only some of those mice that made the noise," he went on.

"Perhaps it is," his father answered. "I'll let Snap have a chance at them."

As Mr. Bobbsey stepped up to turn the k.n.o.b of the "locker," or closet door, there was a noise inside, as though something had been knocked down off a shelf. Snap barked loudly and made a spring, to be ready to jump inside the closet as soon as it was opened.

"What's that?" cried Mrs. Bobbsey, while Flossie and Freddie, a little alarmed, clung together and moved nearer to their mother.

"There's something inside there, that's sure," declared Mr. Bobbsey.

"It must be a big rat!"

"Mercy!" cried Mrs. Bobbsey. "A rat!"

"I'll have to set a trap," Mr. Bobbsey went on. "That rat has probably been taking the things to eat that Dinah missed--the corn-cakes and the sandwiches."

"That's right!" cried Bert. "That ends the mystery. Go for him, Snap!"

"Bow wow!" barked the dog, only too willing to get in the closet and shake the rat.

But, when Mr. Bobbsey opened the door, no rat ran out, not even a little mouse. Snap was ready for one, had there been any; but though he pawed around on the floor, and nosed behind the boxes and barrels, he caught nothing.

"Where is it?" asked Flossie.

"I want to see the rat!" cried Freddie. Neither of the smaller twins was afraid of animals. Of course, they did not know that rats can sometimes bite very fiercely, or they might not have been nearly so anxious to see one.

"I guess the rat got away," said Mr. Bobbsey, as he watched Snap pawing around in the locker, even pus.h.i.+ng aside boxes with his nose.

"Hab yo' cotched de ghost?" asked Dinah, looking out from her kitchen.

"Not yet--but almost," said Mr. Bobbsey. "I must clean out this closet, and find the rat-hole. Then I'll set the trap. Come away Snap.

You missed him that time."

The dog was not so sure of this. He stayed near the closet, while Mr.

Bobbsey set out the boxes and barrels, but no rat was to be seen, nor even a mouse. And, the odd part of it was that, when everything was out of the locker, there was no hole to be seen, through which any of the gnawing animals might have slipped.

"That's funny," said the twins' father, as he peered about. "I don't see how that rat got in here, or got out again."

"Perhaps it wasn't a rat," suggested Mrs. Bobbsey.

"What was it, then, that made the noise?" asked her husband.

"I don't know," she answered. "Something might have b.u.mped against the boat outside."

"Yes, that's so," admitted Mr. Bobbsey. "But Snap wouldn't act that way just on account of a noise."

The boxes and barrels were put back into the closet, but even that did not seem to satisfy Snap. He remained near the locker for some time, now and then growling and showing his teeth. Mr. Bobbsey looked in some of the other, and smaller, lockers, but all he found was a tiny hole, hardly big enough for a mouse.

"Perhaps it was a mouse," he said. "Anyhow, I'll set a trap there.

Dinah, toast me a bit of cheese."

"Cheese, Ma.s.sa Bobbsey!" exclaimed the colored cook. "Yo' knows yo'

cain't eat cheese. Ebery time yo' does, yo' gits de insispepsia suffin terrible--specially toasted cheese."

"I don't intend to eat it!" answered the twins' father, with a laugh.

"I'm going to bait a trap with cheese to catch the mice. I don't care whether they get the indigestion or not."

"Oh! Dat's diffunt," said Dinah. "I'll toast yo' some."

The trap was set, but for two or three days, though it was often looked at, no mice were caught. Meanwhile, several times, Dinah said she missed food from her kitchen. It was only little things, though, and the Bobbseys paid small attention to her, for Dinah was often forgetful, and might have been mistaken.

"I really think we have some rats aboard," said Mr. Bobbsey. "There are some on nearly every boat. I have heard noises in the night that could be made only by rats."